Medical schools around the world have a need to select their medical
students. This is done for two reasons:

There are always more people applying to do medicine than there are
medical school places, and

Medical schools want to ensure that the limited student positions
they have available go to individuals who will make outstanding
doctors.

Traditionally, high academic ability has been the major, if not the
only selection criterion. For a number of reasons a selection policy
based purely on academic marks is
no longer appropriate.
Firstly, there is no simple correlation between the
level of prior academic achievement and success in health professional
courses or later practice. Secondly, selection based solely on academic
criteria might unreasonably discriminate against particular groups.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the community has strongly
indicated a desire for graduating health practitioners who have a
demonstrated ability to communicate with and relate to their patients,
in addition to having the necessary highly developed levels of skill
within their field.

There has been a
growing acknowledgment for some years
that non-academic personal qualities are just as important and
influential to the learning and practice of medicine as academic
ability. Accordingly, an increasing number of medical schools require
applicants to complete tests that measure qualities, traits and
abilities other than academic ability.

What is the Personal Qualities Assessment?

PQA is an instrument designed to assess a range of
personal qualities considered to be important for the study and
practice of medicine and allied health professions. It comprises
questions, grouped into four sections, the first to measure cognitive
skills, the other three to measure particular personality and
attitudinal traits relevant to health professional practice.